Electoral bonds: Election Commission makes public details of electoral bonds submitted by SBI

Election Commission makes public details of electoral bonds submitted by SBI. The EC shared on X platform, “In compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions, SBI has provided data pertaining to electoral bonds to ECI today i.e.

March 21, 2024. ECI has uploaded it on its website as received from SBI on an ‘as is where is basis’.”

In compliance with a Supreme Court order, the State Bank of India (SBI) provided the Election Commission of India (ECI) with all important information regarding the electoral bonds on Thursday (Mar 21), including their unique numbers.

On March 18, the Supreme Court had ordered the SBI to give complete disclosure of all information pertaining to the electoral bonds under its custody.

Five things that will now be known about electoral bonds are: the name of the party that encashed the bond, its denomination and unique number, the name of the purchaser, the last four digits of the political parties’ bank account number and the denomination and quantity of bonds encashed.

Earlier, the SBI had submitted only the details of the purchasers, the total amount and the fund the political parties received, separately.

‘Can’t be selective’: Supreme Court directs SBI to share details of all electoral bonds by March 21

“The complete bank account numbers and KYC details of the political parties are not being made public as it may compromise the security of the account (cyber security),” the SBI said in its affidavit to the Supreme Court.

“Similarly, KYC details of purchasers are also not being made public for security reasons, apart from the fact that such information of not fed/collated in the system. However, they are not necessary for identifying the political parties.”

The bank chairman informed the Supreme Court that, except from the KYC information and the full account numbers, it no longer possesses any secret information about electoral bonds.

The distinct alphanumeric digits aid in identifying the bond and the recipient party.

The Supreme Court pointed out that SBI had not complied fully with the top court’s decision from March 11 requiring SBI to reveal all electoral bond details by withholding this number.

Electoral Bonds data dump so far: Key points

1. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leads in the total amount of funds received through electoral bonds in 2018. The party’s cumulative electoral bond amount sums up to ₹6986.5 crore or about $842 million.

2. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress received ₹1,397 crore ($168.5 mn) in electoral bonds followed by the Congress with ₹1,334 crore (or $160.9mn), and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi with ₹1,322 crore ($159 mn).

3. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) received ₹944.5 crore ($113.8mn), followed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam at ₹656.5 crore ($79.1 mn), and YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh at nearly ₹442.8 crore ($53.4 mn).

4. The beneficiaries of about ₹859 crore ($103.6mn) worth of bonds purchased by Future Gaming remain undisclosed. This is reportedly due to incomplete donor information from most political parties.

5. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party did not provide a consolidated donation figure. However, the State Bank of India’s records indicate it received ₹65.45 crore ($7.8 mn). The total sum received by the AAP stands at ₹69 crore ($8.32mn) after accounting for another ₹3.55 crore ($428,228) post-filing with the Election Commission.

6. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) redeemed bonds totalling ₹181.35 crore ($21.83mn), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) ₹130.38 crore ($15.68mn), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ₹56 crore ($6.75 mn), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ₹50.51 crore ($6.09mn), Sikkim Krantikari Morcha ₹15.5 crore ($1.86mn), Samajwadi Party (SP) ₹14.05 crore ($1.69 mn), Akali Dal ₹7.26 crore ($875,759), AIADMK ₹6.05 crore ($729,798), National Conference (NC) ₹50 lakh ($60,313) from the Bharti Group, and Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) ₹50 lakh (($60,313).

Electoral bonds: India’s Supreme Court criticises lender SBI

7. Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam revealed donor identities. However, the donor details of major political parties such as the BJP, Congress, and TMC have not been fully disclosed.

8. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party disclosed total donations of ₹10.84 crore ($1.30mn). But SP also received 10 bonds worth ₹10 crore ($1.2mn) received anonymously “by post”.